Well...where do I start? I've not long woken up from a 14 hour sleep, I didn't think I had the ability to do that, but the Edinburgh Fringe has done that to me. In a good way. We were only up there for eight days, but the fringe is a special place - as an audience member it's probably the only place to be in August, the festival itself is the greatest show on earth and within it contains lots of other little greatest shows on earth. As a performer/writer/anybody part of a show, it is all of those things with an added emotional rollercoaster of magical moments and periods of great frustration, all concluding in a week which you weren't quite sure worked for you or not but can't wait to do again.
Arriving in cloudy Edinburgh on Sunday morning (Izzy and myself stayed in a Travel Lodge in Newcastle the night before to make the long drive slightly more comfortable, Grace and Michelle travelled separately by train) we checked into our lovely, if small, accommodation and headed over to our venue. I really like Sweet Venues, they are under different management now to when I was last with them (with a show called The Knowledge Of Beauty all of those years ago...I feel old) and it has a more of a family vibe to it all now, JD the boss is a very organised and friendly chap who made us feel very welcome, and the spaces themselves are a joy to perform in - perfect size, with comfortable seating for the audience, the sound quality is good, the stage size offers enough space to perform the pieces as intended whilst still feeling intimate. I'm by no means an experienced performer, but I felt instantly at home on that stage. We went for late drinks to catch up with friends, most of whom who are involved in other shows, then I got a bit touchy and snappy because I wanted to go home and sleep before an early morning tech on the Monday and it was getting late. Izzy and Michelle found me acting touchy rather funny, as they've never seen touchy Paul before. I wasn't functioning properly the next morning, having a tech at 9am having slept quite badly on the floor in the flat the night before didn't put me in the best of mindsets but it went smoothly enough and I was fine after a Red Bull and packet of Monster Munch. The Greatest Goal tech, which was just after, served as a dress rehearsal for Grace too, but looked great. A couple hours later, Greatest Goal premiered in front of a modest audience, but went down well, wasn't aware that Grace was going to do this in a Welsh accent (I hadn't been at the rehearsals and Michelle (the director) and her decided on this) and it was brilliant, injected more charm into the whole of the second half of the show. After briefly flyering the Royal Mile in my pyjamas (the fringe is probably the only place where you can go out into the streets dressed in your jim-jams and nobody bats and eyelid) it was the first Edinburgh performance of the new Oscar Pike show. We had friends in, my sister and her boyfriend were in, the press were in...whilst by far not the tightest it's been, it had plenty of energy and no major cock-ups, people laughed when they were supposed to, we were happy enough so got drunk to celebrate this fact.
There has been much said in the media about the demise of the fringe this year. Okay, demise is a bit strong, but it's struggled a bit. Numbers have been down, even established acts like Richard Herring haven't been selling out, which is unthinkable. As usual there are a couple of 'buzz' acts that you can't get tickets for no matter how hard you've tried - David Trent (a friend of mine), Pappy's, Daniel Kitson - but quite a few of the bigger acts were suffering a bit for audiences. Many have theories on why this is - somebody said to me at the end of run party on Sunday evening that it was because the fringe relies a lot on international visitors and, because of the Olympics, flights into the UK were so much more expensive so that put them off. A few people believe it's simply because it's been a busy summer for Great Britian - all the sport, how much money, and leave, and energy do people have? Alan our soundman extraordinaire believes it's deeper than a one-year blip and that the model of the whole fringe is changing, and going back to basics. With about 40% of the fringe being free, why would people pay to see a show? There really is much to be said either way about that, he has a point though - there's still a recession, people don't have money at the end of the day.
It was clear very early on that both of our shows were going to struggle, because, probably of all of the reasons above combined, but also because (as Izzy pointed out) we didn't really have a marketing strategy. No 'really' about it, really. Gone are the days when flyering with a little charm on the Royal Mile was enough to convince people to come to your shows. The flyering didn't work at all this year - maybe I'm just not charming any more. Felt like we were the only people without a review on our flyers because we didn't have one to put on there (the danger of only doing a limited run, and also because we didn't get any reviewers in to the previews because we were so unsure about the quality of production at the time so didn't invite any press). We had three reviewers in for Oscar Pike during the week - the one that came on the first performance (he laughed a lot and I'm confident about this one - review hasn't emerged anywhere yet though), one that came on the second performance which was a TERRIBLE DAY where the reviewer was one of only two people in the audience (the other being our friend Mary who had already seen the show in Cambridge but still found it in her to laugh at the same jokes again, top lady) and it was the worst we've ever performed the play - we had been working so hard to flyer and get the numbers up that we were knackered before the play even started...also, it's really hard to say monologues to the audience about 'the lady league' and other blokey things when the audience is made up of two women - at one point I said a whole monologue to an empty chair. Annoyingly, that's the only review that has been published so far, it wasn't the nicest but said some nice-ish things about the piece - if I was a reviewer that day I would have ripped us apart. We also had a journalist in for the fourth performance, he laughed a lot and it was a good day, but again - nothing has been printed yet, maybe it'll be out there soon. One reviewer was scheduled for Greatest Goal, but never turned up, which was a shame because it was mid-run and Grace was really hitting her stride by then.
Wednesday felt like a new low for me as a fringe producer...that day's performance of Oscar Pike was cancelled because we hadn't sold a single ticket. And that was despite my meeting the night before with the lovely Lynne - marketing manager at Sweet, who let me invent any offer I wanted to get people in. That day we decided to go half price and flyered our amazing offer like crazy, but nothing. Greatest Goal did go ahead earlier that day to three people, all of whom loved it, but for Oscar - nothing. The most painful thing about this is knowing that you've not sold any tickets but having to put up the set and be in costume just in case somebody decides to turn up at the last minute. They didn't, so I'm sat in an empty venue, in my pyjamas, feeling like a loser, being called "grumpy pants" by the others. I wanted to go back to the flat to sulk and watch TV, but the others wouldn't let me as it's Grace's birthday and besides - there wasn't a TV in the flat anyway. In six years at the fringe, this was a first. It won't happen again. I had cheered up later in the evening, we celebrated Grace's new age by seeing Piff The Magic Dragon (one the funniest things I have ever seen at the fringe - choking with laughter) and Andrew Lawrence, and drinking in the Pleasence courtyard until the early hours. We spent a lot of time in the Pleasence courtyard - it's my favourite place at the fringe, vibrant, colourful, lots of space, and a good place to spot the odd celebrity (one night we saw Simon Amstell, Tim Vine and Richard Bacon all loitering, and I got introduced to comedian Nick Helme by David Trent at the bar but foolishly didn't know who he was - the next morning Izzy was telling me what a fan of his she is and I felt a bit daft).
Thankfully the rest of the performances of Oscar did happen - in fact the next day we EIGHT people in, yeah, get us. That was because we had the show for sale in the Half Price Hut though I think. Greatest Goal ticked over nicely with small audiences but Grace knew exactly how to handle them completely, such a good actress. She deserved a bigger audience for her performance though, she deserved some kind of recognition for this, as does Michelle for directing it so well - monologues can be boring, they made them lovely and interesting to watch. In the penultimate performance of Oscar there was five people in, one of which was my ex-girlfriend. Awkward! It was pointed out to us by someone at the venue that everyone who came out of both shows during the week were smiling/still laughing, and looked like they had really enjoyed the productions. Not being arrogant or anything, but that's because these shows are good, a lot of time and care had gone into them. But as I've already touched on earlier in this post, having a good show isn't enough these days - but we'll learn from this. Our marketing strategy was flawed this year. Well, we didn't have one. Next year we'll have one. Did I just say we're doing another show next year? Hhhhmmm, let's have a think about this.
The final Oscar was beautifully surreal - twenty people in, quite a few of them children...Oscar isn't a kids show, it has the words 'fuck' and 'wanker' in it quite a lot. 'Fuck' was replaced by either strained facial expressions to express my frustration or 'sod' when it came to 'fuck off'. 'Wanker' was replaced by 'prat' - which apparently is the most hilarious word in the world if you're under 10. Ironically, Oscar Pike's fringe farewell went down a storm, maybe family-friendly is the way forward? Yeah, right! Got away with it anyway, and nice to end on a high, we needed to, what with an eight hour car drive home the next day. At the Sweet end of fringe party/awards ceremony, which was really lovely and so nice to chat and drink with other performers, we won an award: The Realism Award For Company Name Most Frequently Used In Real Life. Realism for our company name (Get A Real Job Productions) in what was a pretty surreal fringe.
You know, staying in that small flat, I'm amazed Izzy and Grace didn't kill me - I think I may have been difficult to work with last week, I was either ratty/grumpy when things weren't going to plan ("this pointless, I'm not doing the fringe again...") or over-enthusiastic ("if we flyer lots tomorrow we can sell out and be rich and famous...") but they didn't, which demonstrates what lovely people they are. And the late night lectures/advice (they were lectures) about how to find a new girlfriend were appreciated, even if it did feel like I was being told off a bit (a lot). They're both really lovely, as is Michelle, and Alan our soundman is a dude and friend who I need to drink beer with more often.
And beyond the stress and excitement of our own shows there was of course hundreds and hundreds of other shows to see, and we saw lots in between flyering/our own productions/drinking lots, Piff The Magic Dragon topped my favourites list for the year (you should go and see this show, wherever it is and wherever you are) with Tim Key a close second with 'Masterslut' - a great, surreal show that is difficult to explain but I can't wait to see it again in Cambridge soon. I somehow ended up playing second percussion for comedian Rob Deering during his show, and Dead Cat Bounce, Rom Com Con and The Beta Males were also really great. There was also a few stinkers, but it's just not nice to list them because there's every chance there's someone else somewhere like me blogging about the fringe and I wouldn't want them to mention our shows in such a light. But...there was one evening that was totally dreadful - it was a benefit night, and was supposed to have a selection of top comedians performing. Only one of them had turned up, and sat awkwardly in the little venue we watched him explain that he was stretching this out (there wasn't even a host), we wanted to like him and go along with it but the material wasn't working - he was trying so hard, but it just wasn't. As the evening progressed and no other act turned up he started to lose the plot, and eventually the whole audience (about twenty people) were forced onto the stage to see what it's like under the lights, not allowed to sit down until we laugh, and the second comedian (who had just turned up) had to start his act sat in the empty audience. Eventually, we were freed from this weird comedy hostage situation and 'allowed' to sit down, but the second comedian was as dreadful as the first and small group by small group of people everybody ran out. Outside it was like the fire bell had just gone off - the audience in hysterics (for the first time in about 40 minutes) about how bad that was, and relieved we had managed to escape that monstrosity. It kind of all adds to the fringe experience, I guess.
Although having a 'quiet' year, the Edinburgh Fringe is the most magical place on the planet, on arrival at the top of the Royal Mile all you have to do is look down at the thousands of people, whether they be potential audience members or more than likely performers desperately wanting to entertain you. Being entertained is one of life's treats, laughing is healthy and I did a lot of that last week. We made a couple mistakes at the fringe with the planning of our shows, but equally, in retrospect, we have every right to be very proud of ourselves. Good work, team.
So, what next? Well, it's Lodestar this weekend - the final hurrah for Greatest Goal and Oscar, and there I shall be premiering a new show I'm writing for fantastic blues band called The Outlines. I should have probably been working on the script rather than spending so much time on this blog post but hey - there's still time to do a good job of it. After that I'm straight into the studio to record a Christmas album with some lovely and talented people, and some gigs and stuff, some nice gigs coming up. I should really get my novel out there too, finally, now I've got my head around this whole Kindle thing (and the ultra-arty Cara Pedder is designing me a cover), and there's talk of a radio sitcom before the Christmas show. Lots of ideas, too many ideas, as always. Whatever they may be though there's nobody I would want to work more on them with than Izzy, okay so she snaps a bit when she hasn't eaten (as I discovered), but she's annoyingly talented, has got a genuine eye for what works and what doesn't as well as fast becoming one of my best friends in the whole world, great things can be achieved. I'm not sure if she agrees, but I'll give her a few weeks of space and then start sending scripts over.
Edinburgh Fringe 2012 - done. Stressfully. Edinburgh Fringe 2013? I've had time to think about it, of course we bloody will.
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Friday, 17 August 2012
Pre-fringe thoughts
Tomorrow we make the first bit of our journey up to the Edinburgh Fringe. I say 'first bit', but that's because of the accommodation issues - and it's these little bits of admin that have really been niggling me for a couple of weeks now. Accommodation-wise I should really take the blame, although apparently we live in a world where sending an email saying, 'yeah sounds cool :-)' isn't considered to be a confirmation - madness. Anyway, we've found somewhere new to stay, but have to pick up the keys by 2pm on Sunday and leaving at 5am on Sunday morning wasn't really an option anybody was keen on so Grace, Izzy and I are staying in a Travel Lodge half way up the country tomorrow night before making the short trip up to magical fringe land the next morning. Our actual accommodation in Edinburgh is tiny (but within my equally tiny budget), it's a little bit concerning because we will be in each others pockets a lot for the next week or so. We're all really good friends (Michelle is joining us from Sunday - Tuesday too) and it shouldn't be a problem, but it's a bit different to touring with the band because, you know, Aidy, Dave and myself are all sweaty blokes, we drink lots of beer and every now and then break wind. Don't think I can really do that with Izzy, Grace and Michelle because they're ladies. Not that I'm that kind of person anyway, really, I guess, but you know what I mean. I just have to be on my best behaviour.
Accommodation aside, it's hard work taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe, and it's a bit harder taking two - although to be honest when you're doing the work for one production you might as well go the extra mile and do it for two anyway. Let's do three next year? Maybe that's pushing it a bit. But once you've chosen your venue, agreed a run, fee and contract, hassled one of your best mates to design a masterpiece of a flyer (Matt never lets us down, he's totally excelled himself this year), sorted accommodation, lost your accommodation, found more accommodation, got confused by PRS licensing for the shows, spent agonising days writing your 40-word entry for the fringe programme and the longer one for the official website, get stressed because your image didn't make it into the programme before giving up because nobody f*cking answers their phones in that office, filled out what feels like endless risk assessments, written the press releases, dealt with the PR team at your venue, insured both plays, printed the flyers...once you've done all this, it's easy to forget you actually have a show or two to do. Luckily, my little team here of Izzy, Grace, Michelle and Alan are worth their weight in gold and are so focussed, so whilst I ponce around getting flustered with the admin they never lose track of the actual productions themselves.
The shows are looking good, the previews were worthwhile (Bristol - messy but fun, Cambridge 1 - really worked, London - not our finest, Cambridge 2 - a bit flat I thought but everyone else thinks it was the best performance so far), in Edinburgh after a couple of days we'll find some consistency and really make ourselves proud. Haven't heard from our venue in a while, hope everything is okay - there's absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be, but I just worry sometimes. Still not sure if we should have gone for a free venue or a paid one - we went for a paid one in the end. It's a tricky one to judge having done both, 40% of the fringe is now free - that means 40% of the shows are free entry, ours is £7 to get in (still very reasonable, I think). The reason why I actively chose to go for a paid venue this year is control - you know that you're getting a proper venue, with fixed seating, a proper tech run, marketing team behind you, a sense of organisation about it. There's so much at the fringe you can't control, quality of performance space counts for a lot. Although an audience would be nice.
Who knows what my blog post will say when I get back? Anything can happen at the fringe. This is my sixth year up there, and there's a realistic approach to it all now. It's a bit like being in a band - you start off wanting to be 'spotted', to be on the front cover of the NME, then you grow up a bit and realise the ambition is often just to have your talents recognised, to network, to see what might happen. Was chatting to Izzy about this earlier in the week - whilst we're up there we're gonna try and do everything, film bits, write stuff - be inspired by it all, make things happen. And enjoy it, of course, because basically the Edinburgh Fringe is right up there with Christmas as far as I'm concerned. And just as magical, and as expensive.
Accommodation aside, it's hard work taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe, and it's a bit harder taking two - although to be honest when you're doing the work for one production you might as well go the extra mile and do it for two anyway. Let's do three next year? Maybe that's pushing it a bit. But once you've chosen your venue, agreed a run, fee and contract, hassled one of your best mates to design a masterpiece of a flyer (Matt never lets us down, he's totally excelled himself this year), sorted accommodation, lost your accommodation, found more accommodation, got confused by PRS licensing for the shows, spent agonising days writing your 40-word entry for the fringe programme and the longer one for the official website, get stressed because your image didn't make it into the programme before giving up because nobody f*cking answers their phones in that office, filled out what feels like endless risk assessments, written the press releases, dealt with the PR team at your venue, insured both plays, printed the flyers...once you've done all this, it's easy to forget you actually have a show or two to do. Luckily, my little team here of Izzy, Grace, Michelle and Alan are worth their weight in gold and are so focussed, so whilst I ponce around getting flustered with the admin they never lose track of the actual productions themselves.
The shows are looking good, the previews were worthwhile (Bristol - messy but fun, Cambridge 1 - really worked, London - not our finest, Cambridge 2 - a bit flat I thought but everyone else thinks it was the best performance so far), in Edinburgh after a couple of days we'll find some consistency and really make ourselves proud. Haven't heard from our venue in a while, hope everything is okay - there's absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be, but I just worry sometimes. Still not sure if we should have gone for a free venue or a paid one - we went for a paid one in the end. It's a tricky one to judge having done both, 40% of the fringe is now free - that means 40% of the shows are free entry, ours is £7 to get in (still very reasonable, I think). The reason why I actively chose to go for a paid venue this year is control - you know that you're getting a proper venue, with fixed seating, a proper tech run, marketing team behind you, a sense of organisation about it. There's so much at the fringe you can't control, quality of performance space counts for a lot. Although an audience would be nice.
Who knows what my blog post will say when I get back? Anything can happen at the fringe. This is my sixth year up there, and there's a realistic approach to it all now. It's a bit like being in a band - you start off wanting to be 'spotted', to be on the front cover of the NME, then you grow up a bit and realise the ambition is often just to have your talents recognised, to network, to see what might happen. Was chatting to Izzy about this earlier in the week - whilst we're up there we're gonna try and do everything, film bits, write stuff - be inspired by it all, make things happen. And enjoy it, of course, because basically the Edinburgh Fringe is right up there with Christmas as far as I'm concerned. And just as magical, and as expensive.
Gig report: Flaming June @ The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Band: Flaming June
Venues: The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Date: 17/08/12
Audience: A handful of young people, who were very nice to us
Set: Stop The Ride, Nerves Of Steel, Pyscho, Rumplestiltskin, Sweetest Weakness, Wednesdays & Weekends
Notes: After playing at the BBC with The British IBM, I dashed to the other side of Cambridge to play a duo set with Louise at the Portland, where we were supporting the chap from incredibly popular emo rock band, INME. As we realised, INME is the kind of band that young rock fans like, and they probably weren't our target audience. As always the venue was sweaty, we were the third act on, quite a few people just needed some air so we didn't have the biggest of crowds but those who stuck around really seemed to like us, even sold a couple CD's afterwards. A short set, but nice and tight, a worthwhile show to play.
Venues: The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Date: 17/08/12
Audience: A handful of young people, who were very nice to us
Set: Stop The Ride, Nerves Of Steel, Pyscho, Rumplestiltskin, Sweetest Weakness, Wednesdays & Weekends
Notes: After playing at the BBC with The British IBM, I dashed to the other side of Cambridge to play a duo set with Louise at the Portland, where we were supporting the chap from incredibly popular emo rock band, INME. As we realised, INME is the kind of band that young rock fans like, and they probably weren't our target audience. As always the venue was sweaty, we were the third act on, quite a few people just needed some air so we didn't have the biggest of crowds but those who stuck around really seemed to like us, even sold a couple CD's afterwards. A short set, but nice and tight, a worthwhile show to play.
Gig report: The British IBM @ BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
Band: The British IBM
Venues: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Cambridge
Date: 17/08/12
Audience: No idea, my parents tuned in though for sure
Set: Animal, God's Front Porch plus lengthy interview and pre-recorded airplay of The British IBM and Sugar Water
Notes: I really enjoyed this one - we were guests on Tom Simkins' show (he was stepping in for Kerry Devine, who I was about to be on the bill with a couple hours later), Tom really has been championing our music for a while now and it's so nice when the host knows your stuff. Spoke briefly to the always lovely Sue Marchant beforehand (her show was on afterwards) and she pointed out that I'm always at the station with a band/project and might as well just live there - it's true, I've been in that studio a lot lately, and after a while you just don't get phased by these things and it's all very comfortable. We rehearsed acoustically last night, it was the first time we'd all met up since the tour, and it was genuinely nice to be back, and it also feels good to be acoustic again, we just seem to have more control somehow. Tom's interview with us was slick, and our performance tonight was as tight as we have ever been, a really decent session.
Venues: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Cambridge
Date: 17/08/12
Audience: No idea, my parents tuned in though for sure
Set: Animal, God's Front Porch plus lengthy interview and pre-recorded airplay of The British IBM and Sugar Water
Notes: I really enjoyed this one - we were guests on Tom Simkins' show (he was stepping in for Kerry Devine, who I was about to be on the bill with a couple hours later), Tom really has been championing our music for a while now and it's so nice when the host knows your stuff. Spoke briefly to the always lovely Sue Marchant beforehand (her show was on afterwards) and she pointed out that I'm always at the station with a band/project and might as well just live there - it's true, I've been in that studio a lot lately, and after a while you just don't get phased by these things and it's all very comfortable. We rehearsed acoustically last night, it was the first time we'd all met up since the tour, and it was genuinely nice to be back, and it also feels good to be acoustic again, we just seem to have more control somehow. Tom's interview with us was slick, and our performance tonight was as tight as we have ever been, a really decent session.
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Gig report: Flaming June @ The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Band: Flaming June
Venues: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 10/08/12
Audience: Busy, cheery
Set: Stop The Ride, Nerves Of Steel, Rumplestiltskin, Psycho, Little Love In A Cruel World, Song For The Broken Hearted, Sweetest Weakness, Wednesdays & Weekends
Notes: Sometimes playing an opening slot at a venue you've played at a million times before after an exhausting week of creative tomfoolery doesn't seem like the most appealing way to spend a Friday evening, but last night's gig at the Cornerhouse was really lovely. Can't really put my finger on why - it's just one of those situations where things just work out, played this as a duo and Louise was in proper fiery form, and I just felt really up for it. The songs felt punchy, snappy, angrier that normal, the venue was incredibly humid but it felt good to sweat out a lively set. It shouldn't always be about the audience, but we started the show to a near-empty room but finished it to a near-packed one, everyone there seemed to be into what we were doing, we truly won some people over last night. A positive evening.
Venues: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Date: 10/08/12
Audience: Busy, cheery
Set: Stop The Ride, Nerves Of Steel, Rumplestiltskin, Psycho, Little Love In A Cruel World, Song For The Broken Hearted, Sweetest Weakness, Wednesdays & Weekends
Notes: Sometimes playing an opening slot at a venue you've played at a million times before after an exhausting week of creative tomfoolery doesn't seem like the most appealing way to spend a Friday evening, but last night's gig at the Cornerhouse was really lovely. Can't really put my finger on why - it's just one of those situations where things just work out, played this as a duo and Louise was in proper fiery form, and I just felt really up for it. The songs felt punchy, snappy, angrier that normal, the venue was incredibly humid but it felt good to sweat out a lively set. It shouldn't always be about the audience, but we started the show to a near-empty room but finished it to a near-packed one, everyone there seemed to be into what we were doing, we truly won some people over last night. A positive evening.
Monday, 6 August 2012
Gig report: British IBM UK tour 2012
Band: The British IBM
Venues: See below
Date: 28/07/12 - 04/08/12
Audiences: See below
Set: Our set from the tour always started with Make It Happen followed by Pain In My Heart. For every gig we ended with The British IBM followed by Washing Machine. In the middle, depending on length of set and general vibe of the room, we played all or some of these songs: Animal, God's Front Porch, Sugar Water, 3 Years, Not Your Day, Cannibal, Guns, Down Like That.
Notes: Our second UK tour, and first under the name of The British IBM, Aidy, Dave and myself hit the road to promote our debut, self-titled album, which came out during the run of shows. We're really proud of the album - it's taken 7 months to complete, but it sounds and looks brilliant, I'm lucky enough to drum on lots of releases but this one of those special albums, the kind of thing you'd show your grandchildren. The run up to the tour has been stressful because, you know, it's hard booking a tour when you're trying to get established. It's hard booking a tour when venues are closing down, or changing their minds, or just a bit unsure about having a hardworking indie band play their arses off for absolutely no money whatsoever in their venue. But we got together 7 dates - well, I see 'we', it was Aidy, mostly, he worked so hard to put this together, he put so many hours in to make this one happen, and I really appreciate just how much this took it out of him especially as I was very little help what with my head in theatre land with the fringe looming. This was our first electric tour - but with that comes the issue of live drums, because drums are big and we tour in a battered Peugeot 406, and with amps, guitars, luggage, and ourselves, it was never going to work. One option was for me to drive separately - something I wasn't too keen on (touring by myself would have been an odd experience) but I would have done it if it wasn't for the fact I have wheel baring issues with my car and it couldn't be risked with the long trips ahead. Instead we opted to borrow and hire kits along the way and me just bringing my breakables, making each gig very different indeed not knowing exactly what equipment you'd be using. For the next tour we'll be acoustic again, that's already been mutually agreed, it's much easier. Not that this wasn't fun though, here is a brief run down to how the week on the road with my two chums went:
28/07/12: THE LEGION, MIDDLESBOROUGH
Back in the 'boro, we were pleased to be launching the tour here. As we've decided to leave our home city, Cambridge, out of our schedules for a while (we've played here too much, we need a break from Cambridge and it probably needs a break from us) it felt natural to have Middlesborough as our first date as we've played here plenty of times, our manager and friend Matt Speight is based up there, and it feels like a natural home for The British IBM as people seem to like us up there. We felt very welcome straight away - we stayed at Matt's who is a very friendly man and he looked after us well. The gig was a relatively quiet one but that's cool, and due to a mixture of tiredness from the journey and our kind hosts I was a little merry before the gig even started. It was a shaky start to the tour, performance-wise, but a nice wake up call (as far as I was concerned) to how much you can and can't drink before a show. A bit sloppy, but still went down well, and we carried on drinking, as well as eating pizza, until the early hours of the morning whilst watching a DVD documentary about a music shop in Stockton.
29/07/12: THE NORTHERN MONKEY, LEEDS
After a trip to that very music shop in Stockton (it's a great place), we made the short trip to Leeds. Stayed in The Raddison Hotel, which was really posh, intimidatingly so perhaps. After food, drink and a catch up with a couple of Dave's friends we popped over to the Northern Monkey. It was a Sunday night so another quiet one, but we played really well - even though there can't have been more than 10 people watching it just felt like a positive move in the right direction. Had a few more beers afterwards.
Monday was a day off as there wasn't any gigs available for us to play that day, so we drove around randomly looking for somewhere cheap to stay that wasn't too far away from the next show, and somehow ended up in Retford. Nice little place, with a Weatherspoons across the road from our B+B so cheap enough too. After a couple beers we actually had a night in, happy to rest in our fairly sizable triple room, Dave and Aidy watched a film (which to me sounded a bit girly) on Aidy's laptop and I read a book, like the civilised band we are.
31/07/12: THE AXE AND CLEAVER, BOSTON
In Boston, we stayed in the worst hotel you can possibly imagine. I won't name it, because there's no need to spread the bad word - especially because so many people have given it 1 star reviews all over the internet already. We read those reviews but still thought we'd risk it. I could probably get a sitcom about this, but I fear John Cleese may have beaten me to it. Good gig though - we were the main support for a local band who packed the place out. Nice drums to play, crowd seemed really into it, cracking little show surrounded by lovely people.
01/08/12: CAFE BRUXELLES, LEICESTER
We didn't sleep too well, or at all, because of the hotel. At 4am we were all still awake, nobody could sleep - you can't sleep in such filth. Fucking hell. We got out when we could, and then got lost in Leicester. If you don't know the area, and we don't, Leicester is a difficult place to get around. It started to feel a bit tense, we hadn't slept, and although we were staying in a much better hotel this time around we were running out of time and energy to do this show properly in time. We needn't have rushed as the drums were heavily delayed anyway, but we weren't to know that. The venue is nice - I didn't think it would work as a venue as it looked too much like a restaurant (it is) on arrival, but when they bunged a PA in the corner and a couple people moved out of the way it felt suitable. I like the promoter, I like the fact he said: "Die, motherfucker" to me as a means of introduction, instead of the routine, "hello." Due to the delay we played acoustically, twice, to keep the gig vibe going - we effectively played two gigs in a row there. And then we were the rhythm section for two local rappers, they seemed over the moon to have a real life beat and groove backing them, it was all pleasantly surreal. Later on that evening, we'd be the backing band for a man proudly singing a Ramadan song to his family. In between the rapper and Ramadan stuff, Dave and I popped across the road to drink Jaggerbombs to try and stay awake. Eventually went on stage at 11.30pm, exhausted, sleep deprived and weary. Played to a small audience, less than 10 people, but put everything into it, they seemed to appreciate that. It probably wasn't our finest 25 minutes, but I'm happy we just got through it. Looks like we'll be returning to the venue for another show later in the year, with a bit of sleep inside us I think it could work out really well.
02/08/12: THE THIRSTY SCHOLAR, MANCHESTER
Having actually slept, we arrived in Manchester in better spirits and instantly liked the city a lot. So vibrant - colourful, lively, I possibly prefer it to London. Nice venue - it's a pub, with a raised bit in the corner, and the promoter was friendly and organised. I went back to the hotel to get my cymbals, even though the hotel is next door to the venue I missed it, somehow, and had a bit of a wonder. I was gone for quite a while. We seemed to be playing a blues/singer-songwriter type evening, not always ideal for an indie rock band but we seemed to compliment each other well. Used a lovely Sonor kit - my favourite kit of the tour, and the drummer it belonged to - Greame, is friends with my mate Neil who lives in the same village as me. Small world, really small world. Played to a tiny audience, but played well.
03/08/12: FRIARS COURT, WARRINGTON
Warrington is an odd little place, you know. There just seems to be very little there, apart from some brand shops, and of course Friars Court - our venue. Nice venue - I know I've probably said that about all of the places but I mean it, it was a quid for a bottle of lager, and the other bands were friendly. We were the opening act for this show which suited us. Easily the loudest gig of the tour - they seem to like their music loud there, even the music between the bands, that was loud too. Loud room. Small audience, but still tight as a band, we seem to be getting tighter without even thinking about it - just playing lots has helped us a great deal. Got quite drunk.
04/08/12: THE ROYAL HOTEL,. SUTTON COLDFIELD, BIRMINGHAM
The final night of the tour, and poshest. This was always going to be the one I wasn't sure about, but it worked out an absolute treat. We were playing at a burlesque event - we made sure they knew what we were about, because let's be honest, we are not a burlesque band, but they welcomed us and made us feel comfortable nice and early on. It really helps when you're staying at the venue - the gig was downstairs, we were staying upstairs. It's a lovely hotel, after a week of being in each others pockets, it felt like a little bit of space. Rented a bass drum and hi-hat stand from a shop down the road, in retrospect should have hired the whole kit but we did okay with just the basics I think. Aidy's girlfriend, Jo, joined us for the final night of the run which was nice. The burlesque show was how you'd expect it to be - breasts and nipple tassells and all that, and then we played above the show on the little balcony bit. Easily the most fun night of the tour - biggest audience, went down well, I really didn't think it would do but we were happy with that. There was an aftershow party but we all felt a bit too tired to join in, so instead Dave went to bed and Aidy, Jo and myself sat in a hotel room drinking our complimentary cans of Stella until the early hours of the morning chatting like good friends do.
The journey home was sluggish, it was a long week. See - it's not always about the gigs, most of the time you're only on stage for half an hour. And it's not like we zig-zagged around the country this time, Aidy planned these dates well. But it's hard work being in a band - the lugging equipment around, killing endless hours in coffee shops, town centres, hotel rooms (Aidy and Dave went to a launderette out of boredom one day as I sat and worked on the new musical script for the Lodestar festival). As Aidy says - you're basically working nights. But you have to be out of your hotel by 10am. And then you soundcheck, wait for hours, eventually go on, play your 30 minutes in front of a handful of people, try to convince them to buy a CD, t-shirt or at least join the mailing list (in return for a cuddle from 'Cuddly Paul'), and falling back into the venue in the early hours of the morning. We watched every other band we were on a bill with (whether they be before or after us), it's the right thing to do. We had a rule that if Madness comes on the PA we have to down a shot. Madness are very popular band, we drank a lot. Our first tour last year was exciting and new to us, the second time around we're starting to know what to expect. We didn't kill each other; 8 days continually in the same hotel room/car/venue with Aidy and Dave and I'm still keen to do it all again, as soon as possible. They're awesome bandmates to have. It's a slog - sometimes a demoralising slog, but when you get back to the 9-5, back to your little desk and spreadsheets, you do find yourself getting the diary out and planning when you can do it all again.
Venues: See below
Date: 28/07/12 - 04/08/12
Audiences: See below
Set: Our set from the tour always started with Make It Happen followed by Pain In My Heart. For every gig we ended with The British IBM followed by Washing Machine. In the middle, depending on length of set and general vibe of the room, we played all or some of these songs: Animal, God's Front Porch, Sugar Water, 3 Years, Not Your Day, Cannibal, Guns, Down Like That.
Notes: Our second UK tour, and first under the name of The British IBM, Aidy, Dave and myself hit the road to promote our debut, self-titled album, which came out during the run of shows. We're really proud of the album - it's taken 7 months to complete, but it sounds and looks brilliant, I'm lucky enough to drum on lots of releases but this one of those special albums, the kind of thing you'd show your grandchildren. The run up to the tour has been stressful because, you know, it's hard booking a tour when you're trying to get established. It's hard booking a tour when venues are closing down, or changing their minds, or just a bit unsure about having a hardworking indie band play their arses off for absolutely no money whatsoever in their venue. But we got together 7 dates - well, I see 'we', it was Aidy, mostly, he worked so hard to put this together, he put so many hours in to make this one happen, and I really appreciate just how much this took it out of him especially as I was very little help what with my head in theatre land with the fringe looming. This was our first electric tour - but with that comes the issue of live drums, because drums are big and we tour in a battered Peugeot 406, and with amps, guitars, luggage, and ourselves, it was never going to work. One option was for me to drive separately - something I wasn't too keen on (touring by myself would have been an odd experience) but I would have done it if it wasn't for the fact I have wheel baring issues with my car and it couldn't be risked with the long trips ahead. Instead we opted to borrow and hire kits along the way and me just bringing my breakables, making each gig very different indeed not knowing exactly what equipment you'd be using. For the next tour we'll be acoustic again, that's already been mutually agreed, it's much easier. Not that this wasn't fun though, here is a brief run down to how the week on the road with my two chums went:
28/07/12: THE LEGION, MIDDLESBOROUGH
Back in the 'boro, we were pleased to be launching the tour here. As we've decided to leave our home city, Cambridge, out of our schedules for a while (we've played here too much, we need a break from Cambridge and it probably needs a break from us) it felt natural to have Middlesborough as our first date as we've played here plenty of times, our manager and friend Matt Speight is based up there, and it feels like a natural home for The British IBM as people seem to like us up there. We felt very welcome straight away - we stayed at Matt's who is a very friendly man and he looked after us well. The gig was a relatively quiet one but that's cool, and due to a mixture of tiredness from the journey and our kind hosts I was a little merry before the gig even started. It was a shaky start to the tour, performance-wise, but a nice wake up call (as far as I was concerned) to how much you can and can't drink before a show. A bit sloppy, but still went down well, and we carried on drinking, as well as eating pizza, until the early hours of the morning whilst watching a DVD documentary about a music shop in Stockton.
29/07/12: THE NORTHERN MONKEY, LEEDS
After a trip to that very music shop in Stockton (it's a great place), we made the short trip to Leeds. Stayed in The Raddison Hotel, which was really posh, intimidatingly so perhaps. After food, drink and a catch up with a couple of Dave's friends we popped over to the Northern Monkey. It was a Sunday night so another quiet one, but we played really well - even though there can't have been more than 10 people watching it just felt like a positive move in the right direction. Had a few more beers afterwards.
Monday was a day off as there wasn't any gigs available for us to play that day, so we drove around randomly looking for somewhere cheap to stay that wasn't too far away from the next show, and somehow ended up in Retford. Nice little place, with a Weatherspoons across the road from our B+B so cheap enough too. After a couple beers we actually had a night in, happy to rest in our fairly sizable triple room, Dave and Aidy watched a film (which to me sounded a bit girly) on Aidy's laptop and I read a book, like the civilised band we are.
31/07/12: THE AXE AND CLEAVER, BOSTON
In Boston, we stayed in the worst hotel you can possibly imagine. I won't name it, because there's no need to spread the bad word - especially because so many people have given it 1 star reviews all over the internet already. We read those reviews but still thought we'd risk it. I could probably get a sitcom about this, but I fear John Cleese may have beaten me to it. Good gig though - we were the main support for a local band who packed the place out. Nice drums to play, crowd seemed really into it, cracking little show surrounded by lovely people.
01/08/12: CAFE BRUXELLES, LEICESTER
We didn't sleep too well, or at all, because of the hotel. At 4am we were all still awake, nobody could sleep - you can't sleep in such filth. Fucking hell. We got out when we could, and then got lost in Leicester. If you don't know the area, and we don't, Leicester is a difficult place to get around. It started to feel a bit tense, we hadn't slept, and although we were staying in a much better hotel this time around we were running out of time and energy to do this show properly in time. We needn't have rushed as the drums were heavily delayed anyway, but we weren't to know that. The venue is nice - I didn't think it would work as a venue as it looked too much like a restaurant (it is) on arrival, but when they bunged a PA in the corner and a couple people moved out of the way it felt suitable. I like the promoter, I like the fact he said: "Die, motherfucker" to me as a means of introduction, instead of the routine, "hello." Due to the delay we played acoustically, twice, to keep the gig vibe going - we effectively played two gigs in a row there. And then we were the rhythm section for two local rappers, they seemed over the moon to have a real life beat and groove backing them, it was all pleasantly surreal. Later on that evening, we'd be the backing band for a man proudly singing a Ramadan song to his family. In between the rapper and Ramadan stuff, Dave and I popped across the road to drink Jaggerbombs to try and stay awake. Eventually went on stage at 11.30pm, exhausted, sleep deprived and weary. Played to a small audience, less than 10 people, but put everything into it, they seemed to appreciate that. It probably wasn't our finest 25 minutes, but I'm happy we just got through it. Looks like we'll be returning to the venue for another show later in the year, with a bit of sleep inside us I think it could work out really well.
02/08/12: THE THIRSTY SCHOLAR, MANCHESTER
Having actually slept, we arrived in Manchester in better spirits and instantly liked the city a lot. So vibrant - colourful, lively, I possibly prefer it to London. Nice venue - it's a pub, with a raised bit in the corner, and the promoter was friendly and organised. I went back to the hotel to get my cymbals, even though the hotel is next door to the venue I missed it, somehow, and had a bit of a wonder. I was gone for quite a while. We seemed to be playing a blues/singer-songwriter type evening, not always ideal for an indie rock band but we seemed to compliment each other well. Used a lovely Sonor kit - my favourite kit of the tour, and the drummer it belonged to - Greame, is friends with my mate Neil who lives in the same village as me. Small world, really small world. Played to a tiny audience, but played well.
03/08/12: FRIARS COURT, WARRINGTON
Warrington is an odd little place, you know. There just seems to be very little there, apart from some brand shops, and of course Friars Court - our venue. Nice venue - I know I've probably said that about all of the places but I mean it, it was a quid for a bottle of lager, and the other bands were friendly. We were the opening act for this show which suited us. Easily the loudest gig of the tour - they seem to like their music loud there, even the music between the bands, that was loud too. Loud room. Small audience, but still tight as a band, we seem to be getting tighter without even thinking about it - just playing lots has helped us a great deal. Got quite drunk.
04/08/12: THE ROYAL HOTEL,. SUTTON COLDFIELD, BIRMINGHAM
The final night of the tour, and poshest. This was always going to be the one I wasn't sure about, but it worked out an absolute treat. We were playing at a burlesque event - we made sure they knew what we were about, because let's be honest, we are not a burlesque band, but they welcomed us and made us feel comfortable nice and early on. It really helps when you're staying at the venue - the gig was downstairs, we were staying upstairs. It's a lovely hotel, after a week of being in each others pockets, it felt like a little bit of space. Rented a bass drum and hi-hat stand from a shop down the road, in retrospect should have hired the whole kit but we did okay with just the basics I think. Aidy's girlfriend, Jo, joined us for the final night of the run which was nice. The burlesque show was how you'd expect it to be - breasts and nipple tassells and all that, and then we played above the show on the little balcony bit. Easily the most fun night of the tour - biggest audience, went down well, I really didn't think it would do but we were happy with that. There was an aftershow party but we all felt a bit too tired to join in, so instead Dave went to bed and Aidy, Jo and myself sat in a hotel room drinking our complimentary cans of Stella until the early hours of the morning chatting like good friends do.
The journey home was sluggish, it was a long week. See - it's not always about the gigs, most of the time you're only on stage for half an hour. And it's not like we zig-zagged around the country this time, Aidy planned these dates well. But it's hard work being in a band - the lugging equipment around, killing endless hours in coffee shops, town centres, hotel rooms (Aidy and Dave went to a launderette out of boredom one day as I sat and worked on the new musical script for the Lodestar festival). As Aidy says - you're basically working nights. But you have to be out of your hotel by 10am. And then you soundcheck, wait for hours, eventually go on, play your 30 minutes in front of a handful of people, try to convince them to buy a CD, t-shirt or at least join the mailing list (in return for a cuddle from 'Cuddly Paul'), and falling back into the venue in the early hours of the morning. We watched every other band we were on a bill with (whether they be before or after us), it's the right thing to do. We had a rule that if Madness comes on the PA we have to down a shot. Madness are very popular band, we drank a lot. Our first tour last year was exciting and new to us, the second time around we're starting to know what to expect. We didn't kill each other; 8 days continually in the same hotel room/car/venue with Aidy and Dave and I'm still keen to do it all again, as soon as possible. They're awesome bandmates to have. It's a slog - sometimes a demoralising slog, but when you get back to the 9-5, back to your little desk and spreadsheets, you do find yourself getting the diary out and planning when you can do it all again.
Final Cambridge preview of the fringe shows
Feels strange writing this one up a fair while after the actual performance (well, nearly two weeks) but it's good to keep a record of these things. And I've finally got my home internet working again after a month, so I can catch up on everything. We had a nice crowd at CB2 for the second preview on our home turf, and our final preview anywhere before the fringe itself. It had technically sold out, but we lost a couple people in the run up to the performance - I think the opening ceremony of the Olympics played a major part in this, but we still had a healthy-sized audience which we're very grateful for. Oscar Pike-wise this is largely considered to be our best performance yet - I personally thought it was a bit slow on my behalf, but it turns out people like that...apparently I speak too fast,. so me on a 'slow day' is probably the acceptable speed. I don't know - I like the nervous energy, this was verging on being just a bit flat, but I'm no expert and happy to go with the majority. No major cock-ups anyway, which was a first, it's all starting to sink in now. Alongside 'Greatest Goal...' there was also a first airing for this new version of 'Love Awkwardly' - it occurred to me how long Grace is on stage for and how much she has to do, but she's doing it brilliantly. There was still lots of confusion from both the audience and within the team about how the 'Greatest Goal...' show is going to work - do the plays link, is it the same character etc? Happy to report that after a couple stressful days these issues have now been resolved. Tonight, in fact. Won't go into details, but let's just say we spent quite a lot of the evening with Grace recording in an Australian budgie voice, you lucky Edinburgh Fringe people are in for a bit of a treat.
It feels like we've had a couple breaks in the run up to the show - after the previews I went on tour (and Izzy went on holiday), now Grace is away for a bit, but we're in good shape - better shape than ever, and tonight's session with the Greatest Goal side of things was an absolute joy. We're travelling up to the fringe next Saturday, there's a lot of admin to be done (flyers to be printed, insurance, PRS, press, and the cast are worried about accommodation...there's nothing to worry about, honest...), but I think this year we'll be absolutely fine. More than fine.
It feels like we've had a couple breaks in the run up to the show - after the previews I went on tour (and Izzy went on holiday), now Grace is away for a bit, but we're in good shape - better shape than ever, and tonight's session with the Greatest Goal side of things was an absolute joy. We're travelling up to the fringe next Saturday, there's a lot of admin to be done (flyers to be printed, insurance, PRS, press, and the cast are worried about accommodation...there's nothing to worry about, honest...), but I think this year we'll be absolutely fine. More than fine.
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